Small Heath

Small Heath is a neighborhood of south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has been settled and used since the Roman era, and it was named for the small hill which it sat on. It was developed as a pasture and common land, and it became a narrow heath between Green Lane and the Coventry Road. Terraced housing estates for the working class were established after 1834, and it became the home of the Peaky Blinders gang under the brothers Arthur and Tommy Shelby. Small Heath was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 26 August and 19 and 22 November 1940 during The Blitz, killing 53 BSA factory employees and over 50 local residents, injuring 89 civilians, and damaging Britain's industrial output. In the 20 years after World War II's end, the neighborhoood was transformed from a working-class (mostly Irish) district to a South Asian community. In 2007, Small Heath had a population of 36,898 people, with 51% being Pakistani (mostly from Azad Kashmir), 9% Bangladeshi, and 22% white British; most of the residents were Muslim, and several mosques were built to accomodate them.